This summer I have to carry around three instruments because my solo program includes music for theorbo, classical and flamenco guitar. The first concert was on 27th of May at the tower of Tartu Jaani (St. John) church The first floor of tower accommodates 50 listeners and has a mystical atmosphere. And the floor is uneven,… Continue reading
What Hurts the Guitarist?
Intro and background Besides general health problems, many musicians also suffer from specific, playing-related musculosceletal disorders (PRMD). These are most often connected to the muscles of the back, neck, limbs and face, and have been documented since the end of the 19th century. The highest risk group of PRMD are the female musicians and string players (Zaza,… Continue reading
MatchMySound: A Feedback Hub For Music Teachers
Learners Need Feedback Anyone who learns a musical instrument wants to know how is he/she doing. In other words, learners need feedback. Sadly, two of the most popular learning models today – online learning and learning by textbooks – tend to omit it almost completely. But what about the traditional and luxurious one-by-one teaching? While I must admit that… Continue reading
Did you take your medicine today?
In medicine there is a term ‘prescription compliance’. I think in music education it is pretty much the same – we as teachers give the students great exercises but these won’t work unless they actually master those before moving on. That is why we keep writing new method books but what we should really do is… Continue reading
A Free Online Course For Learning To Play Simple Melodies On The Guitar
A guitar is an instrument that enables you to play either melodies, chords, or rhythm, and everything at once. The simplest way to start, though, is by playing melodies. During this mini-course you will acquire the main skills and knowledge you need to play melodies on a guitar both by ear as well as from sheet music… Continue reading
Our Team Got Some Funding For The MatchMySound Project
After finishing the guitar chord game we have been working on a bigger project called MatchMySound. It is a web app for music teachers that allows them to give their students measurable homework. Basically an automated music teacher that has a very good ear for students’ mistakes. It distinguishes between the timing and sound mistakes… Continue reading
Rhythm, Meter, Tempo – What Are They?
One important part of a melody is the pitch but besides that we must deal with another highly important characteristic of notes – duration or length. You might have heard terms rhythm, meter, tempo. What are they? To produce rhythm, we need at least two notes, and they should not be played very far from… Continue reading
Chord Of The Week: D7
D7 is often the first seventh chord that one learns when starting to play guitar chords. In my children’s guitar method book I introduce the D7 even earlier than D major triad. I do it because very often the D7 is preceded by C major and then it is possible to leave the first finger… Continue reading
Play Your Chords So That The Picture And Sound Match
I have just finished a long guitar course for middle school music teachers. We started in Aug 2013 and had 32 x 45 min group lessons during the year. The main goal was to teach them to teach chords. Btw, Estonia is probably the only country in the world where guitar is now in the… Continue reading
Kristo Käo & Leonora Palu at TMW 2014 Gallery
Yesterday we presented a mini concert at the Nokia Concert Hall. This year the Tallinn Music Week’s classical artists’ showcase was organized by Pille Lill Musicians’ Fund. Our program included three pieces by Estonian composers: Matbeth by Rene Eespere, Water Dance by Jüri Reinvere and For BBB And His Friend by Lepo Sumera. The first… Continue reading